Rabbit on the Dinner Table Part I

It's long past time we talked about a topic that makes some people happy and hungry while others seize up in an animal rights rage: rabbits on American's dinner table! I admit, I am biased. I think rabbit meat is great and is very under appreciated in the United States today. This is in part to problems marketing. Do these sound familiar: Pork. The Other White Meat. Beef. It's What's For Dinner. Got Milk? All of these are advertising slogans and marketing campaigns funded by big guns in their respective industries. Did you know beef gets its own month now?

In another example, the pork slogan was created at the request of the National Pork Board and funded at least in part by a tax collected when pork is sold or even imported to the US. I'd just like to take a moment to point out that the United States Department of Agriculture does not consider pork a white meat. But the advertising worked great and pork can be found in every butcher or grocery store in my area. I can have it prepared at nearly every restaurant as well.

You know what I can't find locally in the store? Rabbit. Not anywhere. I seem to recall hearing that Whole Foods intended to sell rabbit this year in some cities. You know what happened on the internet? It exploded with posters stating that we would be eating our pets. Like someone would literally break down their door and take their rabbit so it could be sold for dinner at Whole Foods. Petitions sprang up to stop Whole Foods from selling rabbit. And (I am not making this up), protestors arrived in front of Whole Foods stores. Please bear in mind, this was not police brutality or government oppression- this was literally just a store trying to sell a product to their customers. People buy beef, pork, fish, chicken, and more without a second thought at this same grocery chain, but they aren't as cute as rabbits. A steer or a rooster also may not be the best choice in house pets. I'd doubt homeowners would like to share a bedroom with one. They may be raised in horrible feedlot conditions with disease and manure up to their hocks. They may be crammed into tiny cages pressed up against others of their kind, with their beaks cut off and their wings broken, but by god we aren't selling the American public humanely raised rabbit.

It seems to me like those are the two main issues with rabbit meat in the US. People think rabbits are cute and rabbit meat has no advertising plan that I am aware of. Most of the people I've asked have never had rabbit meat in their life. This is going to be part 1 of a several part series in which I will talk about the benefits of rabbit meat, of why we as breeders and exhibitors should promote it, and how to prepare and enjoy rabbit meat (with recipes!). I hope this is enlightening and maybe eventually we will be able to come up with a marketing campaign to help the rest of America to discover the deliciousness that is slow roasted rabbit on the dinner table. Cheers!